HSU: Ch. 290

The rebuilt southern fortress still leaned against the mountains and faced the sea. But it had been further reinforced on top of its original foundations. The walls now extended a bit into the sea, allowing it to directly block ships.

Seeing this, the nobles finally let out a sigh of relief.

What was the relationship between Kumo and Konoha? The nobles of the Land of Lightning and the Land of Fire were more or less the same, and the same applied to their vassal states.

However, no matter which country's nobles they were, ninjas from official ninja villages wouldn't make things difficult for them. After all, from the perspective of the nobles of the Land of Fire, Kumo was simply a village that happened to be located in enemy territory.

The Land of Fire had also hired Kumo for special missions on distant occasions, and the Lightning Daimyō had interacted with the Hokage before.

Business was business.

If you thought of each ninja village as a corporation in a modern world, the relationship became easy to understand.

The slogans used by ninja villages weren't too different from something like: "We want to grow bigger, stronger, and become a global company."

No one really tried to wipe the other out completely, it was a classic lose-lose scenario. There were so many ninja organizations that if one titan fell, a new one would just rise to fill the gap due to cluster effects. So they'd rather just keep playing with the same old opponents.

Usually, by the time a ninja war reached someone's doorstep, the outcome was more or less settled.

Of course, there were exceptions.

For example, during the Third Great Ninja War, Kumo ambushed Suna. The Kumo army crossed mountains and deserts just to snatch some resources, which enraged Suna, who was already struggling with internal strife.

They refused to be robbed, and forcefully drove the Kumo army back.

Later, Suna and Kumo teamed up to fight Konoha. Without a numerical advantage, Konoha was pushed back to Kikyō Pass at its lowest point.

Kikyō Pass was quite close to Konoha, Kikyō Castle was even one of the venues for the Chunin Exams in the original timeline. But at that time, Konoha's overall battlefield commander was Orochimaru. He was a classic perfectionist and outright refused to retreat, even engaging in poison battles with Suna.

But Suna used poison that at least they could cure. Orochimaru directly commissioned the snake packs of Ryūchi Cave to release poison. Even he himself didn't know what kind of toxins those snakes used.

Situations like that were rare. Usually, when things got to a certain point, both sides would just hold hands and go home.

Masashi had been holding back for a long time.

Destroying a ninja village might seem pointless in terms of eliminating rivals. In that sense, yes, it didn't make much sense.

But destroying Kumo would make him happy.

Iwa was too far, destroying it wouldn't benefit him directly.

Suna was too erratic, it didn't make sense strategically.

Kiri was too close, too isolated, and the cost was too high.

After weighing all the options, Kumo was the best target.

Not too close, not too far, clear benefits, and if the battlefield was controlled properly, the chaos wouldn't even spill over to Konoha. In every sense, it was perfect.

---

When the Konoha ninjas arrived, it was already nighttime.

The fortress was brightly lit.

The army did not enter the fortress' attack range. Masashi ordered them to make camp and allowed the noble caravans to proceed.

He didn't even send a single spy.

As for those nobles, he hadn't tampered with anything. They would go just as they had come.

When the noble convoy approached the fortress, several Kumo ninjas leapt down from the walls. People think of ninjas as constantly jumping around, but casually leaping from high walls like this takes at least a chunin-level of skill.

Jumping down from a high wall was very different from hopping around in a forest.

It was like diving, some people looked amazing, others looked like they were lobbing grenades.

These people were here to check identities. Most of the nobles traveling to Konoha had come through this fortress route and held passes issued by the fortress.

In the distance, the Konoha ninjas were setting up a temporary camp, completely ignoring the now-open gates.

Trap or not, what proper ninjas used the front gate, anyway?

He gathered the jonin together. No one doubted their ability to take the fortress by force. With so many jonin, even the strongest fortress walls were basically pointless.

A jonin from the Hyūga clan was the first to report the results of their Byakugan reconnaissance of the fortress. Judging from the chakra signatures, there were indeed many ninjas inside the fortress. Based on experience, that number indicated the presence of at least ten thousand people.

But chakra could be deceptive under such circumstances.

Back in the Warring States period, some ninja clans had deliberately used low-level ninjas, artificially stimulating their physical potential to create a higher-than-normal chakra signature, just to fool the Byakugan. Meanwhile, the real elites suppressed their chakra and snuck around to strike from behind.

Yeah, that trick was from the first war.

They had discovered that the Byakugan couldn't be fooled when dealing with small numbers, but when dealing with crowds, it became much harder to tell individuals apart.

Even then, the Byakugan could still spot roughly half the true personnel.

All of the Five Great Nations' founding clans had been on the front lines, they knew exactly how the Byakugan worked. Just like Iwa, Kumo had a very large number of lower-ranked ninjas. Pulling together several thousand of them to perform this kind of deception was entirely possible.

If, that is, things were just as Masashi suspected.

"The nobles will deliver my message to the fortress. Whether the Kumo ninjas believe it or not, we'll gain at least a few days," he told the assembled jonin. "Right now, the priority is to figure out what's going on in the mountain region. Who knows the details of the ancient mountain paths around here?"

"That's going to be hard," someone replied. "Those old paths have been abandoned for decades. Even if the Kumo ninjas have cleared them out, they're still difficult to detect."

To be honest, the others didn't understand why Masashi was so concerned about these long-forgotten trails. After all, at this time and place, no one besides Masashi was even thinking about destroying a village.

These jonin were all straightforward types. They assumed that, just like in past wars, the mission was simply to take down the fortress, and then, as long as Kumo didn't surrender, march along the coastal route and keep pushing.

That was how Konoha had always fought against Kumo. In those days, Kumo was still strong, usually, Konoha had to clash several times in the Land of Hot Water before advancing this far.

Or sometimes the Kumo forces would push all the way to Yu. But wars generally ended around that point. Both sides, full of sincere and battle-hardened warriors, had never really gotten the chance to fight a long, high-intensity war.

The leadership on both sides had always shared one attitude about it: Nope. Let someone else handle that mess.

But that was the top brass talking. The ninjas actually sent into battle had always wanted a real, all-out fight to test the enemy's strength.

Masashi talked things over with them and quickly realized that in this area, they were all basically flying blind.

Looks like he would have to take the lead himself.

"Then let's start with building the camp. Whether we use it or not doesn't matter, it needs to be big, and finished tonight," he ordered. "It's dark, and Kumo doesn't have the Byakugan, so they can't figure out our numbers. Stretch the camp into the forest."

Everyone was taken aback.

"I believe Kumo's elite are probably hidden in the nearby mountains," he continued. "The fortress might even be rigged with explosive tags. After all, sacrificing one fortress to take out our ninjas would be worth it for them."

He paused to think, then added, "We also need to create the illusion that we're getting reinforcements. Every night, send a group into the forest. Then during the day, have them return to camp from another direction. Don't use the same routes too often, Kumo might catch on."

"But if there's a battle in the same area, Kumo will eventually notice," someone pointed out.

"That's fine," Masashi said. "Because we'll also be clearing Kumo forces from the mountains. If our troops are in the same area, Kumo won't notice right away. That's it, dismissed. Get to work."

---

Masashi stayed beneath the walls of the fortress for three days. During that time, he tried a test attack. Since it was just a test, he went alone.

He activated his Complete Body Susanoo and charged straight in. The walls were nothing more than decoration. On his own, he broke the frontline defense of the Kumo ninjas and shattered their organization.

With the ocular powers of the Rinnegan, he was able to clearly assess the actual troop strength and combat capability of the Kumo ninjas within the fortress. Just as he had expected, the number of Kumo ninjas in the fortress was far lower than the intel suggested.

There were slightly more of them than Konoha ninjas, but not by much, maybe around 8,000, about twice the number of Konoha forces.

However, most of them were low-ranking ninjas. This kind of ratio was far from normal for a Kumo ninja army, excessively so, in fact. Furthermore, the nobles hadn't finished evacuating; most of them were still stuck in the fortress.

This was exactly what he had hoped for.

So after breaching the wall, he didn't advance any further. Instead, he stayed put and continued fighting, clearing the area until no one was left alive, then returned to camp. He probably took down over a thousand Kumo ninjas. He didn't bother counting carefully, they died too quickly. There wasn't even a single jonin among them, but their bravery was commendable. Even after their formation fell apart, none of them tried to flee.

This confirmed it, the fortress was a trap, and everyone there was cannon fodder.

It was possible the entire coastal route was a lure. That was just like the Kumo ninjas, they were willing to gamble big.

In the history of the shinobi world, traveling from the peninsula where the Land of Lightning was located to the central plains required land routes back when maritime technology was underdeveloped, chakra or no chakra. From the continent's perspective, there were seven great mountain ranges stretching east to west. Starting from today's Land of Lightning, passing through the Lands of Frost, Rice Fields, and Iron, and extending to the Land of Waterfalls, these mountains divide the three main plains, represented by the Lands of Lightning, Fire, and Earth, into distinct geographical units.

From the historical perspective of the people of the Land of Fire, these mountains long served as a protective barrier, helping them fend off invasions from the northern mountain tribes. They didn't care much about the west, because northern enemies had to pass through these highlands from north to south to enter the plains.

At that time, the so-called Coastal Route was a swampy mess, flooded, impassable by horses or carts, and too shallow for boats. Even the rugged mountain tribes couldn't march through it.

The main confrontation back then took place along another old path: The Poison Route, a treacherous mountain path filled with dangerous insects and harsh conditions.

Despite its dangers, this unusable route remained in use until the end of the Warring States period.

During the First Great Ninja War, Muzo had two plans:

Plan A was to use the Edo Tensei army to break through the Coastal Route and then use ninjutsu to cause a sea incursion, cutting off Kumo ninjas' ability to continue fighting Konoha via that route.

Plan B was to use the Poison Route to flank the enemy.

Since both routes involved undead troops, they didn't need logistics and didn't fear poisonous insects.

As we all know, both plans failed. He was ambushed and killed by the Raikage and a large group of jonin.

In this current timeline, blasting the fortress with elite Edo Tensei troops was just a way to vent frustration.

Decades have passed, and the Poison Route was likely in an even more wild and overgrown state.

Back during the First Ninja War, the route was already being abandoned but still barely usable due to its earlier maintenance. Now, with no upkeep, it was probably ruined.

But with the manpower and wealth of Kumo and the Land of Lightning, it was not impossible that they could have restored it.

From debt settlements with Kumo, Masashi noticed a large and unexplained hidden expenditure, likely related to the Poison Route. And maybe he was not the only one interested in that path.

That was just perfect.

As the commander of the war zone, he actually didn't like the role.

In the previous life, he specialized in special operations, and commanding full-scale armies was a hassle. As a commander, he was responsible for the lives of 4,000 Konoha ninjas, meaning he couldn't be reckless.

Oh, why 4,000? Because if he had to worry about the lives of foreign mercenaries, that would be disrespecting their professionalism, they get paid to risk their lives.

For the Poison Route mission, it was not suitable to take Konoha ninjas, he planned to bring the foreign legion.

And he was not boasting: with a core group of elite Uchiha and Hyūga, including no fewer than 20 jonin, the Kumo ninjas in the fortress simply weren't enough to take them on.

The fortress was full of cannon fodder. Until their real elites showed up, these troops were just stalling using the walls and the leftover nobles. If they launched an attack, it was basically suicide. This strategy wasn't something invented by Kumo, it was part of their ethnic style.

Ninjas didn't become the main force on the battlefield until the mid-to-late Warring States period. Before that, people in the shinobi world fought wars much like on Earth, with regular soldiers as the main force.

The large peninsula region was mountainous and lacked flatlands. The highland tribes living there specialized in mountain warfare, climbing and maneuvering through rough terrain. As a result, they adopted a military path centered around heavy infantry combined with foot archers. Hulking warriors wearing several layers of armor could still charge fast enough to cut through the wind. Because the troop types were simple, the tactics were straightforward too:

Cannon fodder in front, elite shock troops in back, unleashing a high-damage assault in a short time to intimidate the enemy and finish the fight in one strike.

After ninjas became the main force, their style followed a similar path, deadly, all-in frontal assaults. Their combat revolved around explosive attacks powered by lightning chakra, stimulating their potential, perfectly in line with the Land of Lightning's military doctrine.

The only difference was that the former cannon fodder became taijutsu-type ninjas, while the elite troops became ninjutsu users like the Yotsuki clan. Alternatively, it could meant lower-ranked ninja as cannon fodder and upper-ranked ninja as elites, the concept was the same.

Only when these elements worked together could the Kumo ninjas army deliver the kind of explosive strike they aimed for.

However, Kumo was probably the village most accustomed to fighting against Susanoo now, they were even more familiar with it than Konoha. Of course, they also understood that their tactics were completely useless against a Complete Body Susanoo.

So, using the coastal route as bait to buy time for their main forces was actually quite logical. For Kumo, this current Great Ninja War wasn't just another mission, it was a battle for survival.

Masashi believed this line of reasoning was solid.

As he often said: No one knows the Kumo ninjas better than he does.

After returning to camp, he immediately called a meeting. This time, he included the leaders of the foreign mercenary corps. At the meeting, he got straight to the point and laid out his strategy: the Konoha ninjas would remain on defense while the foreign mercenaries would follow him through the Poison Route.

He was a major figure in Konoha and the commander of the war zone. Naturally, no Konoha ninjas questioned his orders. Besides, his solo infiltration of enemy territory to verify intelligence was so impressive that everyone simply thought, If the commander was happy, we're happy.

According to the plan, once he cleared the Poison Route, he would send a shadow clone back along the same path to report. That would be the signal for the Konoha army to begin storming the fortress.

The foreign corps leaders, however, were uneasy about the plan. Even though most of them had never traveled the Poison Route, they knew its reputation. Even without enemies, just passing through would be grueling.

If there were enemies, it would be a straight-up death march. Sure, they were mercenaries who sold their lives, but they preferred not to do it at such high risk. This job felt like a loss. But sitting across from them was the White Ghost. None of them outright refused, so they tried a roundabout approach and proposed an alternative: Could you increase the pay?

"You want more money? Think dying would be a bad deal?" Masashi asked one of the leaders bluntly.

That leader immediately broke into a cold sweat.

The Uchiha clan, as a whole, didn't match the public's typical image of Konoha ninjas, they gave off an intense bloodthirst and even seemed to enjoy it.

Masashi was one of the most extreme examples. The veteran mercenary could tell: this was a man who didn't place any value on human life. People like that were hard to deal with.

Losing his own life was one thing; what he feared was that his entire organization might get wiped out just by being involved.

He secretly glanced over at the Oto ninja contingent. Not a single one of their leaders spoke up.

Rumor had it that although Orochimaru defected from Konoha, he still maintained shady ties with them.

Some even claimed that he had secretly acted during this war, using Konoha's inherited Edo Tensei technique to summon Muzo, completely screwing over the ninjas from the three villages that attacked Konoha during the chunin exams.

These days, many believed his defection was fake from the start, that the whole thing was a setup, and Oto was actually just a secret Konoha outpost.

"Relax, I'm not that kind of person," Masashi said. "We're all allies here, how could I not value your lives?"

The foreign ninja leaders present all showed grateful expressions, including the Oto ninjas.

"I told Orochimaru the same thing: once we capture Kumo, the spoils of war will be split fifty-fifty between Konoha and you all."

The Oto ninjas already knew this, but the rest of the foreign ninja leaders were stunned. Even the Konoha officers present were caught off guard.

This was where the Uchiha's unconventional nature really showed. Although they were momentarily surprised, they quickly became excited.

Worrying about going too far? That was not the Uchiha way.

The Hyūga weren't as thrilled, but considering how Kumo had always coveted the Byakugan over the years, they too felt that wiping out the entire village might not be such a bad idea.

None of the Konoha ninjas present seriously considered whether this plan could actually work. After all, anyone who had seen a fully formed Susanoo swaggering into the fortress wouldn't question the possibility anymore.

For an old and established clan like the Hyūga, they'd long since accepted the cycle of rise and fall. That was why the preservation of their clan came first.

If destroying Kumo would help secure the future of the clan, they would fight harder than anyone, even risk everything to annihilate every last member of Kumo.

Sadly, although the infamous incident with Hinata never occurred in this timeline, Kumo was already seen as a threat to the Hyūga's survival.

"All right, I'm no dictator. Let's put it to a vote," Masashi said, observing everyone's reactions. At that moment, he understood why the daimyō insisted on democratic votes back then.

There was simply no better tool.

If any of these minor faction leaders said no, he could use the group consensus to eliminate them, and then conveniently absorb their subordinates into the army to… well, not "send them to die," that sounded too harsh. And as Masashi, he wanted to be less "Muzo-like."

So, let's call it "struggle together."

"If you'll forgive the question, when you say Konoha will only take half, can we trust that?" One of the leaders asked, feeling the bloodlust in the air. If he didn't speak up to show support soon, he was pretty sure he'd lose his head.

If the White Ghost really honored his word, then this was a bet worth making. He just wanted to make sure the odds were fair.

"Of course. I'll sign a contract with you all right here. Everyone keeps a copy. The Hokage's not here, but I can represent Konoha in this matter."

"No need! No need! I trust you completely!" The leader flushed with excitement. "We're with you all the way!"

If the White Ghost went this far, unless someone had absolutely no shame, there was no way he wouldn't follow through. Sure, Konoha would take the best stuff, but that was fine. They wouldn't be able to enjoy most of it anyway.

Kumo was a wealthy village, after all!

"Then let's vote," Masashi nodded.

He had never planned to back out. But since they were all being so cooperative, it was fine to give them a bit more. The only thing he really needed was for Konoha to gain possession of Kumo's unique ninja tools.

Most important among them: the Amber Purifying Pot, one of the only two tools in the shinobi world capable of sealing tailed beasts. It was precisely because of that pot that Kumo could experiment with human sacrifices so freely in order to cultivate perfect jinchūriki.

Suna couldn't do the same, even though they also had sealing tool, because they lacked the means to stabilize the host's mind and soul.

Genbu had to be captured as well.

Aside from these true legacies of Kumo, he was more than happy to divide the rest of the wealth.

With that, he could continue "recruiting" along the way.

Everyone raised their hands. The vote passed unanimously.

"Well then, no time to waste. Go make your arrangements," he ordered. "As of today, we don't need to pretend we're reinforcing anymore. The Kumo ninjas are already used to our periodic raids into the mountains. For the unit following me through the Poison Route, prepare as much antidote and insect repellent as possible. We depart at midnight."

Upon hearing Masashi's command, the various leaders quickly got up and left.

The Uchiha were actually a bit disappointed that they couldn't join the operation, but they were also the last people who would ever question his judgment.

By the designated time, the 4,000-strong foreign corps was fully assembled and ready.

He didn't waste any words, he led the way into the mountains.

The 2,000 Oto ninjas followed right behind. Orochimaru had given them an absolute order, so while they were technically foreign allies, Masashi could use them without a hitch.

The remaining 2,000 were a mixed bunch from various groups. They followed on their own, taking up roles in perimeter defense and reconnaissance.

Under his command, they advanced toward the Poison Route.

Just 50 km into the mountains, signs of the Kumo ninjas began to appear.

Thanks to Konoha's persistent daily clearing operations, and Kumo's relatively poor adaptation of Kiri's hit-and-run tactics, very few Kumo ninjas had been able to get within 50 km of the Konoha camp lately.

But now, with this joint force pushing deep into the mountains, both sides were about to meet again.